Not Me
by Story-Goddess
Summary: East High breaks up and everyone goes to college. Now they are back, ten years later working at Gardenia Hotel. There is a lot of romance, drama and mysteries as you discover new sides to the characters and wonder...Is that really them?
1. Prologue: Graduation Day

**Not Me**

**By Story-Goddess**

_"Everybody changes, and it's always for the better."_

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**Prologue: Graduation Day**

_It was Graduation day, the end of school and the beginning of a new phase in life, College. It was the time when the students dressed up in black robes with matching hats, when teachers bid farewell to their pupils and classmates say a tearful goodbye to everyone._

_But the sorrowful endings would have to wait, because Sharpay Evans was marching up the aisle, shouting piercing words, telling the others to back off, as she grabbed the front seat everyone started muttering._

"_There's one thing I won't miss!" murmured one student._

_Ryan Evans, Sharpay's faithful twin followed her, dutifully. He didn't have a choice, really. He sat down next to his sister and Gabriella, flicking back his blonde hair._

"_Hey Ryan," It was Gabriella, "and Sharpay."_

_Gabriella Montez smiled, hopefully. She and Sharpay had been arch enemies ever since she had come to East High. Perhaps, they could get a long on the last day, at least?_

_Sharpay snapped her compact closed and shot Gabriella an icy cold glare. She breathed the girl's last name harshly and flicked back her straight blonde hair._

_Ryan sighed and said hello to Gabriella, who looked crestfallen. He then made his way to the wildcats, and of course Taylor McKessie. There was very little time for greetings, but they managed to bear their annoyance._

_Apart from Sharpay of course, the blonde was glaring at them furiously, as they chatted non-stop. She let out a slow growl, so deep that everyone turned to look at her._

_Sharpay rolled her eyes and shouted, "Stop staring!"_

_The rest of the ceremony dragged on, and at last Troy Bolton, who had been elected School President, made his speech, behind his large podium._

"_And here, in East High, one person, if it's the right person, can change everything." Troy finished off. _

_Sharpay nudged Gabriella. It was a mean nudge, accompanied by the rolling of her eyes, but Gabriella took this to be a compliment and stared at Troy, wistfully. Lust forming in the midst of her eyes,_

"_Dork," Sharpay muttered under her breath._

_She flicked her blonde hair again, but this time she caught Taylor's eye. Sharpay rolled her eyes, yet again. How she couldn't wait to get out of this stupid school!_

"_GO WILDCATS!"_

_Chad's deafening shout echoed across the yard and every single student threw up their graduation hat. Sharpay watched from her chair, but did not attempt to do so herself. Instead, she daintily put her hat in her purse and smiled, flakily._

_Jason was watching this and yelled at another teammate, "Check it out! The Ice Queen is smiling!"_

_Sharpay shot him a withering glare and turned on her heel, stomping all the way to the black limousine that had just pulled up. She opened the door, got in and slammed it shut._

_Ryan groaned and told his new friends that he had to go. They all nodded and gave him their sympathy. It must be hard to live with Sharpay, they all thought, mindlessly._

_As the limousine pulled out, Sharpay looked wistfully out of the limo's tinted window and out at the high school she had been to for what seemed like forever. _

_She smiled, sadly and whispered, "Goodbye East High, I'll miss you."_

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**_Dear Readers,_**

**_If you have read this story so far, please, please comment on it. Most of you will probably put it on Alert, or Favourites, without commenting. I need motivation to continue my stories. So please, if you want to read more, can you please comment? This might be harsh, but I will not update until I get reviews. The more I get, the quicker I'll try and post. I am trying to beat my record and I would love reviews. But so far I know a bit of the plot - Basically this story is to show how people change, and in the end, it's for the better. I know most of the characters changes, but please tell me what you want the story to be like. Humour, romance, friendship? But I can't do tragedies very well, sorry! Anyway, I'll stop babbling and start working on the next chapter. ONLY IF YOU REVIEW! I need to know if it's good enought to put an FF._**

**_From your loyal writer,_**

**_Story-Goddess_**

**_xx sg xx_**


	2. Chapter One: Alison, Ashley and Angel

**Not Me**

**By Story-Goddess**

_"Everybody changes, and it's always for the better."_

_

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_

**Chapter One: Alison, Ashley and Angel**

Three girls sat, side by side, on a soft red coach in Albuquerque's famous cafe, Dianes. The city, located in New Mexico, wasn't listed to have an offical high rated cafe like Starbucks but for the citizens here, that suited them just fine. Even for these three glamourous girls, who had come for a break from their big jobs back in Hollywood.

One had slightly wavy, shoulder length orange hair, while the other one had straight brown hair, reaching to her shoulder and with a fringe. They both had sea green eyes and the same tanned skin. They looked exactly how they were supposed to look like, after all they were twins, no matter what their differences.

The one with the orange hair spoke, "Hey Ashley, do you really think this trip will pay off?"

Her twin rolled her eyes and eyed herself in her hot pink contact mirror. "Duh it will Alison, stop being so worried. The Boss sent us here for a reason, to chillax!"

Alison glared at Ashley, "Well, we have a job to do too, you know!"

The third girl watched the trauma, but maid no move to stop it. She simply sipped her strawberry milkshake and waited for them to get over their silly morning fight. They did it every morning, they'd sit together and fight while she would watch them intently, waiting for their new crazy idea, silently counting the minutes.

The girl had strawberry blonde hair which reached right down to her waist and had a slight curl at the end. She had chocolate brown eyes and a big smile, she displayed this and her perfect teeth when her two best friends finally finished fighting, coming to an obvious conclusion that they were both right. The blonde girl looked down at her watch and back at her friends, she was grinning madly.

"Ten minutes," she exclaimed, "you beat your world record guys!"

"Whatever Angel!" dismissed Ashley, "Anyway, are you guys done, because we have to check our hotels out!"

Angel nodded and pushed away her milkshake, so did Alison. The three best friends walked out hand-in-hand, decked out in their awesome Hollywood gear. They grinned as they walked out of Dianes and along the sidewalkes to their five-star hotel, Gardenia, where they stood in awe as they saw the front view.

"Wow!" Alison sighed, dreamily. "This is going to be the best holiday ever!"

Inside, they spotted a front counter desk and a couple of beanbags and chairs scattered across the waiting room. The room was coloured in bright shades and it made the other hotels look very old fashioned. Angel looked at the aquarium near the waiting area and ran off see the various species of fish.

Alison and Ashley rolled their eyes and gave each other a knowing glance, before heading towards the front desk. There was nobody there to recieve their check-in, so they rang the bell. The storage door slowly opened and a cute guy with tousled brown hair and crystal blue eyes carried a box towards the desk. He sat it down on the floor with a thud.

"Hey," he asked, brushing his hair with is hand. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah!" Alision replied, right on cue, "We have a Gold Suite booked for three."

The boy picked up a old book up and flicked through the pages of latest bookings. Alison occasionally added some extra imformation about when they had booked it to help him, while Ashley stared at the ceiling around her. He was cute and all, but he was so not her type! She prefered brown eyes and black hair, like those warriors back in those Magna stories...

"Ok, here it is!" exclaimed the boy, "Alison Edwards...Ashley Edwards...and Angel. Where is your friend though?"

"Oh!" piped up Ashley, "We almost forgot about her! She's back there, looking at your aquarium. She loves those kinds of stuff, says she hasn't seen many animals in days, being in Hol-"

Alison clamped her hand over Ashley's mouth and shot the boy a nervous glance. "Anyway, that's her over there."

The boy turned to look, while Alison shot her twin sister a very angry glare. The boy looked over to Angel, who turned her head slightly, but then back again. He had a nagging feeling somewhere, something about her but he shook it off. He ticked a box in his registery and bookings folio and then closed it shut, looking back up to the now arguing twins.

"Umm..." he stammered, feeling akward, "I've got your key?"

"Thanks." Alison snatched it from him and stomped over to Angel, with Ashley trailing close behind, trying to look innocent.

_Those girls are weird all right!_ He thought, smiling to himself. He just had a feeling that while they were staying here at Gardenia, five star hotel, there would be a lot of drama going on. And a lot of fun adventures, he just hoped he would survive them all in one piece with his paycheck still in check!

Meanwhile, the three girls were walking along the corridors on the tenth, and last, floor. Alison filled Angel in on what Ashley had done. "She was _this_ close to letting our secret out! _Especially_ after the Boss warned us not too! If that cute reception guy had found out our careers would zoom down and it would all be _her_ fault!"

Ashley rolled her eyes, "Come on it wouldn't have been that bad!"

Alison glared at her and Angel quickly butted in, "Guys, chill! We are here on holiday! Can you at least get a long for this one month please? Promise me, okay? If we don't get a long we will be toast when we go back home! So just stop fighting, okay? Promise?"

"Okay, promise." The twin agreed, simutaneously.

Angel grinned, "Good! Now let's check out our rockin' suite!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Ashley, "Go for it, girlfriend!"

Key dangling in her hand, Angel pushed the key through the lockhole and pushed the gold plated doors open."

* * *

**_Dear Readers,_**

**_How is this chapter, huh? Normally, I wouldn't have updated so quick but I'm having an instant effect on this story, so I decided to see how my first offical chapter for this story went! Did you like it, please tell me! I wasn't really sure about the plot line but I want to see if you like it so far. Don't worry there will be more characters soon, this is just Alison, Ashley and Angel's part. Next we're going straight to the crew! But, for this to happen I need a lot of ideas. I'm having a minor author's block. I know what to write but I'm not so sure about the detailed details. Let me explain, what will happen to the..._**

**_RELATIONSHIPS???!!!  
_**

**_I have been asked for a Chadpay, I'm not so good with that but I'll try. Anyway I have a little COMPETITION for you guys! Yay! Lol. Anyway, It's just a small one and I'll add up the top, your name, and I'll have an extra surprise for you guys! All you have to do is...._**

**_TELL ME IN A REVIEW WHO YOU WANT TO PAIR UP WITH WHO (not including Angel, Ashley or Alison)_**

**_DO YOU WANT TROYPAY, CHADPAY, TROYELLA, WHAT?_**

**_ALSO GIVE ME A SMALL IDEA OR PLOTLINE TO SUPPORT IT, LIKE IF IT'S CHAYLOR, DO THEY BREAK UP? IF IT'S TROYELLA, ARE THEY MARRIED?_**

**_I ALSO NEED A BIT MORE...TELL ME WHY YOU LOVE THE COUPLE OR IF YOU DON'T LOVE IT, WHY SHOULD THEY COUPLE UP? _**

**_YOU ALSO HAVE TO HAVE AT LEAST MOST CHARACTERS COUPLED (some can be left out too, but add why.)_**

**_I know it's asking for a lot, but it would really help me a lot, you know. And I can't add the next chapter until I get a suitable amount of suggestions and ideas, so please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review for the sake of the story itself!_**

**_Thanx Heaps,_**

**_XX Story-Goddess_**

**_(PS: Wow! That was a very long author's note! It was like half my story!)_**


	3. Chapter Two: Chad, Meet Angel

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Not Me

**By Story-Goddess**

_"Everybody changes, and it's always for the better."_

* * *

**_The winner of the contest is actually (sorry to disappoint) no-one. Unfortunately for you guys, I have mixed some ideas together. I'll go more into this later, but basically it will be minor/major Chadpay, minor Troypay (I wish it was major, but you are the reviwers), major Troyella, minor Chaylor, Ryelsi. Oooh! And I might have some Ashley/Jason and maybe Alison/Zeke. Thanx everyone who gave me ideas and I'm so sorry I couldn't pick a winner! If you didn't get the couple you wanted I am also sorry, but I couldn't get every couple, right? Tell me if you really, really want me to change it. Thanks also for the story ideas from most of you, I have got some really good ideas now! Anyway, let's go on with the story? Also, this story will contain a lot of conversation!_**

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**Chapter Two: Chad, Meet Angel**

Chad Danforth, basketball coach at Gardenia hotel, spun around as he walked away from the Gator's last game of the season. They had one it, again, making them the best team in the whole seven seas. The Gators had never lost a match those ten years that Chad had coached them, yet he didn't have the same spirit as he did ten years ago, back in East High.

He was always sulky, bored and tired. He never got up and cheered, he'd just give them plain stratagies and pats on the back. He was changed, he was a different afro Chad, it was as if he had no motivation in life. Nothing to work for, nobody to do it for either. He was a boring old man who hated his life, even though he had landed his dream job.

"Hey man!" a boy bounced on him. "Good game!"

"Yeah," Chad muttered to his best friend. "Whatever Troy."

Troy looked at him, face to face. "Dude, you have got to stop mourning! Live a little!"

"I can't!" snapped Chad. "Why do I even play basketball? Hmm? I have nobody to freakin' cheer me on!"

"Chad!" Troy exclaimed. "Taylor broke up with you. Take it in, shed tears then _forget _about it! You can't sulk for the rest of your life!"

The afro's quick temper got the better of him. "Easy for you to say, _Troy_! You have lovely and sweet Gabriella Montez to cheer you on for the rest of your love-y dove-y life. Not me! So wh can't you zip it with your wise talk, or do you have to do just like Ms Gabriella tells you to do?"

"She did-" His best friend protested, sticking up for his girlfriend.

"Save it." And Chad stomped out of the basketball courts, not bothering to congratulate his students or recieve the trophy they had won. All he was thinking about was what a stupid life he had. Sure, he wasn't the only one in his crew that didn't have some-one to date. There was also Taylor, who had dumped him, Jason and Zeke. The only thing was that they had never ever dated, exception with Taylor, and they were meant to be dateless for a long time!

He neared the entrance door to Gardenia hotel, and slowly his temper melted away. He would go into his suite and have a long hot shower, then he would sit on his bed, order some buffet meal and watch televison for the rest of the day. He smiled to himself, that would be the perfect way to spend his day, especially with the extra big lunch meal!

Chad was so busy dreaming about food, he didn't notice a blonde haired girl heading straight for him, her eyes reading a book. Within seconds, the two grumpy adults collided with each other, falling straight on the pavement floor behind him. Chad shook mhis head and sat up, looking to see if the person he ahd bumped into was still okay.

"Sorry." Chad mumbled. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

The blonde haired girl picked herself up and bent down to reach for her book. She stood back up and gave him a sweet, tinkling laugh. "It's okay, really. I'm probably even more clumsy than you are!"

"Hey." Chad's mood instantly changed, "Chad Danforth."

He held out his hand and the blonde shook it, grinning. As she did so, Chad took the time to observe her. She had blonde hair which was tied in a ponytail, otherwise it would have come to her waist. She had two curled bangs and was wearing a little make up, making her looking natural and pretty. She was wearing a hot pink, sleeveless top with small ruffles at the end and she was wearing jeans with black stars in one end. She had simple sneakers on, with pink streaks on them. She also had two clunky bracelets on her right arm.

"Hi Chad." She grinned, "My name is Angel."

"Hmmm..." Chad muttered, feeling some sort of recognisition, "Do I know you from somewhere? High school maybe?"

"Umm..." Angel tensed up and she felt sweat dribble down her forehead. "I don't think so..."

"Cool, whatever." the afro smiled, "Hey, you want to hang out for some time?"

Angel looked back at Gardenia Hotel, and then back at Chad, "Cool, that'll be awesome!"

---

Chad and Angel sat together in McDonalds, chatting about random things. Soon, after twenty minutes of eating and continous slurping, they felt like they had know each other forever. They shared the paycheck and walked together to the local park. Angel spotted an empty bench and ran to it, patting the space next to her and motioning for Chad to sit.

"So, want to play Truth Or Dare?" Angel asked. "Except we could play it without the Dare."

"Nah! I like the dares they are evil!" protested Chad, "Anyway, you go first."

"Truth or Dare?"

"Uummm..." Chad said, "Dare."

"Okay! I dare you to crawl around the playground like a baby!"

Chad went ballastic, "What?!"

Angel rolled her eyes, "It's a dare."

The afro sighed and shot Angel a mini-evil glare, which got her giggling. They went over to the sandpit where lots of children were playing. Chad groaned and put his thumb in his mouth, crawling around the swings and the slide, imatating a baby. All the kids looked at him like he was absurd and started pointing to him. At that point, Angel couldn't help herself but start bursting out laughing.

Chad saw her do that and ran over to her, tickling her until she fell on the grassy floor. Angel ducked and stood up, running to the forest which was completely deserted. She giggled and looked back where Chad was soon catching up. The blonde kept running and she soon felt two arms around her waist, pulling her around to face him.

"You are so going to pay for that!" he growled.

He started tickling her again and he got her so hard that she fell over on the grass, laughing crazily. Chad fell down right beside her as she pulled his legs. He rolled over and he was on top of Angel, starting to tickle her again until she pushed him away hard. They were both dying with laughter as they looked up at the perfectly blue sky above them.

"Ok, your turn." Angel said, still giggling.

"Truth or Dare?" Chad asked.

Angel pretended to be thoughtful and finally said, "I think I'll choose Truth."

Chad groaned and Angel punched him on his chest. Chad sighed, "There goes my master plan, anyway. What's your deepest secret?"

"I can't tell you." Angel sighed, sadly. "If I do, then I'll get fired."

She started sniffling and Chad sighed, stroking her long blonde hair. He pull her closer to him as the lay down on the grass. He could feel Angel's soft snivelling and he lifted her head to look at him. "It's ok Angel. You can tell me when you're ready, okay?"

"Thanks Chad," Angel smiled weakly, "You're a real friend."

_A real friend_, Chad thought as rain fell from the now stormy sky. He and Angel sat up and bolted for shelter, _Now this is a new side of me._

---

Angel sighed as she shivered, coldly. It was raining so heavely that she couldn't see a thing. She and Chad were sitting on a bench, near the sheltered area for raining. Chad looked over to her and saw that she was shivering, he took of his black jacket and handed it to her. She smiled gratefully and draped it over her shoulders.

Chad looked back to Angel, who was putting the buttons on her dress. He had never felt so close to anyone so quickly. He couldn't believe how quikcly he could change. He had never been so kind to a girl or a boy before, not even to Taylor! As he put an arm over Angel's drenched hair, he knew that he had discovered a new side of him. The nice, warm, romantic and sensitive side of Chad Danforth was revealing itself.

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**_Dear Readers,_**

**_I hope you read my note at the beginning of my story about the contest. I thank you all for giving ideas and even though I said that I was not sure If Chadpay would work out, as I write the rest of my chapters I'm imagining it way better! Oh and guys you really must be confused about some things like Angel, for one thing. And her secret. I was actually planning to make this chapter longer by adding Angel's secret too but I thought, 'Nah, it's better to keep the readers in suspense.' And there will also be a really confusing part in the future but you'll have to bear with me, okay?? Tell me if you like it so far. Now you've seen a new side to Chad!!! Who knew he could be so nice? He He He! Anyway, you also see a little bit of a new Troy. He is so demandive!! Anyway, you will also see a better Troy soon and more characters! Tell me if you want me to update. You know I would usually update every week, but I opened my mail and found the whole page filled with Fan Fiction things! I almost fainted!_**

**_From your loyal writer,_**

**_Story-Goddess_**

**_xx sg xx_**


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